The Dalles Historic Trevitt District

National Registry of Historic Places

Trevitt’s Addition Historic District is located northwest of The Dalles Commercial Historic District. The District encompasses about 24.5 acres and is roughly bounded by Liberty Street on the east West Second Street and the south bank of Mill Creek on the north the Mill Creek Bridge on the west, and West Third Place and West Fourth Street on the south. The district, named for Victor Trevitt, includes 22 Primary/Contributing resources dating from the primary period of significance 1864 to 1902 (2 of these are auxiliary buildings); 33 Secondary/Contributing resources dating from the secondary period of significance, 1903 to 1937, (10 of these are auxiliary buildings); 11 Historic/Non-Contributing resources (one of these are auxiliary buildings). Four of these resources were previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Trevitt’s Addition Historic District was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Original Wasco Co. Courthouse (1859)
410 West Second Place
(541) 296-4798

The original Wasco County Courthouse was completed in 1859 and was first located at the intersection of East 3rd and Court Street. This courthouse, seat of government in a county that once was 130,000 square miles,was built in response to a citizen petition.The building dates back to Oregon Territorial days. The building, which cost $2,500, provided the first county-owned jail and office space. The building has been moved many times and today it stands at 410 West 2nd Place completely restored.

Gothic Revival style Catholic Church completed in 1898, the building features Carrera Italian marble, Kilgen pipe organ, 40-foot stamped metal ceilings, six foot rooster on a 176-foot steeple, which is the Gorge’s highest spire. Stained glass windows memorialize pioneer families. The wooden Madonna was carved from keel of a sailing ship. The building was used as a church until 1969. Old St. Peter’s has been renovated and is open the to the public as a museum, concert site, and a wedding chapel.

Ben Snipes House

Ben Snipes Home (1865)
218 W 4th St., The Dalles
541-296-5877
In 1865 Ben Snipes (1835 – 1906), the “Northwest Cattle King,” bought this house for his bride, Mary in 1864., Snipes owned more cattle than any other person in the Northwest, with livestock estimated at 125,000 head of cattle and 20,000 horses. In 1958 Snipes was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame’s Hall of Great Westerners. In 2004 Alan and Bev Eagy converted the Snipes home into the ANZAC Tea Parlour, complete with its own commercial kitchen.

Victor Trevitt House

Trevitt House (1868)
216 W. 4th St., The Dalles
There is conflicting research as to whether Victor Trevitt occupied this house. The house is nonetheless worthy as a locally rare example of its architectural style. Victor Trevitt (1827-1883) laid out a portion of The Dalles townsite known as Trevitt’s Addition in c. 1860.

Mill Creek
Lewis and Clark applied the name “Que-neet Creek,” or “Que-nett,” to a small stream on the southern shore of the Columbia. Local Indians told them the name meant “salmon trout.” The current name derived from the establishment of a sawmill on the stream during the military occupation at Fort Dalles, and the lumber sawed at the mill was used in construction of the Fort and several early homes and businesses built in The Dalles.